Mumbai's ports nursing piles of hazardous waste

Of the 12 major ports in the country, Mumbai Port and its sister port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) have the largest amount of hazardous goods lying around, according to official data. The perils of such material was exposed last month when leakage of chlorine gas from unattended cylinders at Mumbai Port Trust (MbpT) led to hospitalisation of more than 100 people.

According to the union ministry of shipping, more than 203 tonnes of various kinds of hazardous substances are scattered around Mumbai Port. Some of this material can be traced to as far back as March 1983, but was neither destroyed nor moved to a safe location since action remained tied down in red tape.

Similarly, JNPT is riddled with 206 tonnes of various hazardous materials such as brass ash, slag of chrome, and spent nickel-cadmium batteries. These materials, which pose serious health risk, were moved to JNPT in April 1992 but have not been neutralised to date. In sharp contrast to Mumbai, the 10 other major ports of the country have hardly any dangerous material lying around. In fact, Vishakhapatnam and Paradip - which both handle far more cargo each year than Mumbai and JNPT - have reported zero hazardous goods on their premises.

Shipping ministry officials explained that the MbPT was supposed to be temporary home to 203 tonnes of hazardous goods, which now seem to have become permanent squatters. They pose a grave threat in a populous city, because for years "no-objection certificates for their disposal were pending from the explosives and customs departments". Currently, paperwork for disposal is being done through the chief commissioner of customs, and some chlorine gas cylinders are being destroyed.

In the case of JNPT, officials said the port trust had analysed samples of some of the hazardous substances, under directions from the Supreme Court, in 2007 and sent reports to the union government, but no action had been taken.